NCDOT reinstates no left turn at Square

Monday

Jun 17, 2013 at 1:26 PMJun 17, 2013 at 5:07 PM

After a three-month test period, City of Lexington officials have asked the N.C. Department of Transportation to remove the temporary traffic pattern permitting left turns on Main and Center streets at the Square.

BY SHARON MYERSThe Dispatch

After a three-month test period, the N.C. Department of Transportation has decided not to allow left turns on Main and Center street at the Square. City of Lexington officials asked the NCDOT to remove the temporary traffic pattern permitting left turns, and the no turn signs reappeared Wednesday.Officials with the City of Lexington met with traffic engineers and emergency response agencies to evaluate the temporary traffic pattern and determined that permanently allowing left turns would negatively impact the overall safety and mobility at the Square.“It was the general consensus from all involved that the previous traffic pattern was safer for motorists and pedestrians alike,” said Lexington City Manager Alan Carson. “The DOT knew the paving project was coming up, and they decided to look into the possibility of allowing left turns at the Square, and after the testing period was completed we agreed it wasn’t going to work.” Problems observed during the testing period included a significant increase in congestion resulting from the back-up of motorists waiting to turn left. City officials also worried about an increased probability of pedestrians being struck at the Square by motorists focused on making the left turn.“People were sitting through two and three cycles of the light waiting for people to turn left,” said Mark Crook, Davidson County maintenance engineer for the NCDOT.Another issue concerning turning left at the Square is the interaction between motorists who are driving and those who are using street parking. There is an increased risk with parallel parking and people exiting parked vehicles as people use the right lane to avoid the line of cars waiting to turn left, city officials said. Also there is an increased probability of sideswipe accidents, as motorists make quick lane changes to avoid the back-ups in the left turn lanes“Main Street just isn’t wide enough for a left turn lane and to keep the street parking,” Crook said. “If you have to decide between turning left or parking on the street, I think most people would choose the parking.”Another issue the city identified was the increased probability of collisions as motorists turn left in front of two lanes of oncoming traffic, particularly when trying to “beat” the light.The original project to consider allowing left turns happened in a strange turn of events. Tim Ragan, president of Uptown Lexington, said that the question of the left turn came about when a group of students from North Carolina A&T State University were researching refurbishment of the town Square this spring.“The students asked why there was no left turns allowed about the same time the DOT planned to repave Main Street,” Ragan said. “They decided to go ahead and lift the restriction and see what would happen.”Ragan said the students had suggested that allowing a left turn would be easier for truck drivers coming up Main Street trying to make deliveries on Center Street. The research from the three-month testing period determined that the increased safety risk in the area was more relevant than access for truck deliveries.“At least now I know the answer to why they don’t allow left turns at the Square,” Ragan said.When NCDOT completes the Main Street resurfacing project, traffic will return to the previous configuration, which did not allow left turns at the Square.“We knew we were going to be repaving Main Street, and if we needed to change the road signage, this would be the time to do it,” Crook said.In a related topic, the Main Street repaving project that was slated to end Friday has been put behind schedule due to a traffic accident involving a subcontractor’s vacuum truck. Slurry Pavers out of Richmond, Va., is the overall contractor who is doing the paving project. “The vacuum truck was totalled last week,” Crook said. “They have to find another one to get up all this gravel before we can start putting down the pavement markings.”Crook said that the gravel that has remained on Main Street is part of the paving process to allow motorists to still drive on the new pavement while it in the “curing” process. The vacuum truck was to remove the gravel last week to allow the new pavement markings, but it was demolished Thursday. Crook said that the vacuuming of the gravel will resume Monday night, and the new marking should be completed by next week. “Between the rainstorm and the accident, we have had some significant delays,” Crook said. “But I think we should be pretty close to our original completion date.”

Sharon Myers can be reached at 249-3981, ext, 228 or at sharon.myers@the-dispatch.com.